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About a meeting: Pope Francis and Bishop Fellay

Here are the facts about a meeting between the Pope and Bishop Fellay on December 13, 2013.

(Source: SSPX/MG - DICI 05-12-2014)

On May 10, 2014, the English blog Rorate Caeli published under the pseudonym "Adfero", some "exclusive information" whose sources could not be—according to him—disclosed. This "exclusive information", spread by the media, revealed that Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, met with Pope Francis. On May 11, the Roman agency I.Media published that Bishop Fellay’s two assistants, Fr. Niklaus Pfluger and Fr. Marc-Alain Nely, had attended the pope’s private Mass.

Frs. Pfluger and Nely have never attended the pope’s private Mass, and journalists who claim otherwise would have a hard time to indicate the day of the alleged assistance. Here are the facts:

On December 13, 2013, Bishop Fellay and his assistants went to Rome for an informal meeting at the request of the Ecclesia Dei Commission. Following this interview, the Secretary of the Commission, Archbishop Guido Pozzo, invited his counterparts for lunch at St. Martha House's dining room where they were joined by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, Assistant Secretary of the Congregation of the Faith. It is in this large refectory that the Pope takes his daily meals, away from other guests.

Archbishop Pozzo insisted on introducing Bishop Fellay to the pope while the latter was leaving the refectory. There was a brief exchange where Pope Francis said to Bishop Fellay, according to the usual polite formula, "I’m very glad to meet you." To this, Bishop Fellay answered that he was praying a lot, and the pope asked him to pray for him. Such was the "meeting" that lasted a few seconds.

Has Rome made an official approach to renew contact with you since the election of Pope Francis?

Rome made a ‘non-official’ approach to renew contact with us, but nothing more, and I have not asked for an audience as I did after Benedict XVI’s election. For me, things at present are very simple: we stay as we are. Some concluded from my close contact with Rome in 2012 that I regard the necessity of a canonical recognition as a supreme principle. Preserving the Faith and our traditional Catholic identity is essential and remains our first principle."